Ever since FitzRoy James Henry Somerset—the British lord and field marshal who became the 1st Baron
Raglan—lost his right arm in battle and began wearing coats with a
diagonal armhole, the world has found the raglan sleeve to be a
comfortable, forgiving style.

We all know that, unless
dropped by design, a garment’s shoulders should end at the same place
as the wearer’s shoulders. Raglans change the game by removing that
point of reference.

We know raglans are great for kids—the “shoulders” continue to
fit as a child grows— and that they’re also a good choice for
broad-shouldered men, and are perfect for active wear.

But we’re about to broaden the playing field for the raglan game with the Lady Raglan Challenge.

RAGLANS can be about fit

RAGLANS can be about fashion

RAGLANS can be about design opportunities for stitch and color.

Perhaps the RAGLAN’S diagonal can even take a new turn.

The raglan gives a unique opportunity to mix stitch and color
patterns in sleeve and body.
Let’s dust off those double decreases (or increases!) and consider
whether triples could come into play, try top-down or bottom-up, solve
problems with fit, combine patterns with different stitch-to-row ratios
...

Fiona Ellis, Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton, and Barry Klein
are looking forward to this challenge and the opportunity to take a
fresh look at the raglan—with you in mind! Each will come up with 3
design ideas and 1 complete garment, which will then appear on stage at
Opening Day and in the Winter issue of Knitter’s Magazine. They will
also take you through their individual design processes—often the best
part!